Author: Minivan News

Women urge drastic action from president on drugs

A women’s group campaigning against drug abuse has handed the government a petition urging President Abdulla Yameen to prioritise the Maldives’ drug crisis.

The Society for Women Against Drugs collected 359 signatures calling on the president to improve the quality of drug rehabilitation care, and to launch medical care for addicts suffering from withdrawal symptoms in police custody.

“Successive governments have attempted to address the problem of drugs, but they are not doing enough and we don’t see politicians prioritizing the issue,” said the group’s chairperson Fathimath Afiya after handing over the petition last week.

According to a 2012 UN report, there are 7,496 drug addicts in the Maldives. However, critics say the true figure is much higher.

Meanwhile, health advocacy groups have expressed concern over a high risk of HIV spreading among an unmonitored population of injecting drug users.

President Yameen in February acknowledged that changes were needed in the drug rehabilitation system, but the cabinet in March discussed mechanisms to decrease state expenditure on drug care centres.

Home Minister Umar Naseer last year pledged to prioritize drug trafficking and last month brought in a sniffer dog squad.

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Opposition anger over release of protest ‘attacker’

A 28-year-old man arrested for disrupting an opposition protest last week will be released tomorrow, sparking outrage among opposition supporters.

Mohamed Nasheed Abdulla, an activist for the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives, was arrested after protesters accused him of charging into a crowd of demonstrators on a motorcycle on April 1 in Malé. He did not cause serious injuries.

The next day the Criminal Court transferred him to house arrest for five days, which is set to expire today.

A spokesperson for the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, Imthiyaz Fahmy, condemned the criminal court’s “double standards”, noting that opposition supporters arrested at protests were frequently detained for ten to 15 days in police custody.

Unlike Abdulla, the opposition supporters are also being released on condition they stay away from protests for a set period of time.

“These people who attack us, they are the dangerous people, not elected MPs,” said Fahmy, in reference to a court’s Friday decision to hold independent MP Ahmed Mahloof in police custody for an extra 15 days.

Mahloof has been held without charge since he was first arrested from a protest on March 25.

Fahmy also accused the police of failing to take action against individuals who he says continue to attack opposition protesters and vandalise speaker systems and trucks used in protests.

Several individuals the opposition say are gangsters have been caught on camera assaulting protesters and journalists and dousing protesters with crude oil and petrol. Some protesters say they have also been threatened with knives.

The police say they have arrested several people, but that only the court has the authority to detain suspects for longer.

Meanwhile, the release of protesters on condition they stay away from demonstrations for a set period has met with criticism from legal experts and the prosecutor general.

“Releasing a person suspected of a crime with conditions other than ensuring the person’s return to the court maybe unconstitutional,” the prosecutor general wrote in a letter to the chief judge of the criminal court.

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UN sees increase in Maldivian jihadists overseas

A UN report has raised concerns over an increase in fighters leaving the Maldives to join terrorist organisations including al-Qaida and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The expert report to the UN Security Council, obtained by The Associated Press, said the flow of fighters globally “is higher than it has ever been historically”, increasing from a few thousand a decade ago to over 25,000 from more than 100 nations today.

The Maldives police chief Hussein Waheed in January estimated some 50 Maldivians are fighting in foreign wars, but the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party says the figure could be as high as 200.

Waheed’s comments came after reports of at least 13 Maldivians leaving for jihad surfaced in local media in early January. Since then, at least four more have traveled to the Middle East.

Some seven Maldivians are reported to have died in the past year during battle in Syria, according to local media.

Waheed said that police were monitoring the activities of militants and would reveal details of plans to prevent radicalisation at a later date. The MDP has said the government is doing little to counter radicalisation and prevent recruitment of would-be fighters.

The UN report, written by a UN panel monitoring sanctions against Al-Qaida, listed the Maldives, Finland and Trinidad and Tobago as countries from which numbers of fighters were increasing, while the highest number of foreign fighters come from Tunisia, Morocco, France and Russia.

Most fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, to fight primarily for the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra front.

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Singapore firm to advise on airport expansion

A Singapore-based consultancy is to advise the Maldives Airports Company on the long-awaited expansion of the country’s main international airport.

Surbana International Consultants will provide management consultancy services and a design and engineering review for the proposed redesign of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport on Hulhule’ island near Male’.

Plans for the renovations include a new international terminal building, runway, cargo terminal and taxiway expansions and new fuel firm.

Airport capacity will increase to 7 million international passengers and 1.5 million domestic passenger movements from the current 2.3 million after the renovations, said a joint statement from the two companies.

The government had previously signed a separate consultancy agreement with Singapore’s Changi International Airport to advise on the renewal and expansion of the airport terminal.

President Abdulla Yameen last month held talks with Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Fund about low-interest loans for the project, appearing to have scrapped previous plans to seek aUS$600million loan from China and Japan.

The expansion project is estimated to cost US$ 845 million, including improvements to shore protection of the airport island, new seaplane facilities and existing runway re-surfacing.

Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed previously said the runway expansion project had been awarded to Chinese Beijing Urban Construction Group, while the development of the airport terminal was awarded to Japanese Taisei Corporation.

The airport redevelopment project has been beset by problems and delays. In 2012, the government abruptly cancelled a concession agreement with the GMR-Malaysia Airports (GMR-MAHB) consortium to manage and upgrade the airport.

 

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State broadcaster disciplines editor after court ‘abduction’

The state broadcaster has taken disciplinary action against a well-known news editor who accused the criminal court of “abduction” last month during the trial of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed.

The Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) on March 15 transferred Mohamed Afsal from covering trials and legal affairs to working on the website, according to Haveeru.

Afsal had previously presented the “Raajje Miadhu” programme on Television Maldives and hosted special programmes.

The local daily reported that the transfer was prompted by the incident at court on the night former President Mohamed Nasheed was convicted.

On March 13, trial observers and journalists were held for nearly two hours inside the building after the initial hearing, as judges deliberated on a verdict. They were not allowed to use their phones or communicate with reporters gathered outside.

Afsal asked to be allowed to leave, as did Misbah Abbas from CNM and Muizz Ibrahim from Avas, but court officials refused to allow the three outside or inside the courtroom for the verdict. The three were held in the waiting area until the verdict was delivered.

The journalists accused the criminal court of kidnapping and terrorism and filed a complaint with police and the Human Rights Commission.

However, police dismissed the case, saying they had no jurisdiction to investigate it.

The Maldivian Democratic Party condemned the state broadcaster’s move today, characterising it as an attack on press freedom.

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Adhaalath party complains of double standards on protests

The religious conservative Adhaalath party has formally complained to the Human Rights Commission about what it says are double standards in how the Elections Commission handles political party protests.

Adhaalath’s letter notes that the Elections Commission last week fined the both the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Adhaalath party for breaking political party rules and allegedly inciting violence.

However, the Adhaalath party said that at protests of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), “Young men have been present with their faces covered, holding pipes and sticks.”

Despite these circumstances, police and the Elections Commission did not take any action against the PPM, the letter said.

The Adhaalath Party asked the Human Rights Commission to investigate discrimination between parties, and what they said was obstruction of the freedom of expression by the Elections Commission.

Police have also previously written to the Adhaalath party, saying they received complaints from the public about protests held jointly by the Adhaalath and MDP.

Police said the protests were violating the human rights of other citizens, and asked the Adhaalath to hold protests without being too loud or disrupting the peace and order of Male’ city.

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More patients to travel for bone marrow transplants

Eight more thalassaemia patients are set to travel abroad for bone marrow transplants with help from the Zakat fund, the National Social Protection Agency has said, according to local media.

Mujthaba Jaleel, chief executive of the agency, said at an Islamic Ministry ceremony yesterday: “Two patients will leave within the next two days and the other six will leave next week.”

The eight patients are receiving an Indian replication of a treatment from Italy, at the Indian Global Hospital and Manipal Hospital in Bangalore.

Speaking at the ceremony, Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that expenses for the transplants are covered by the Zakat Fund, demonstrating the social benefit from property Zakat, which is related to the value of properties owned. Charitable “Zakat” payments are one of the five pillars of Islam.

Shaheem also called upon the wealthier members of the community to give property Zakat.

At the ceremony, Ahmed Zuhoor, the minister of health, said they have spoken to three Indian hospitals about the transplants.

The Zakat Fund has financed 34 patients for bone marrow transplants. Ten patients left on 12 March for Sri Lanka and India. Each patient is taken care of by the Zakat Fund and given more than MVR 600,000.

Some 18 per cent of Maldivians suffer from thalassaemia, a blood disorder, according to the Maldivian Thalassaemia Society.

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Prosecutor general criticises law enforcement amid spike in violence

Gangsters and murderers remain on the loose because laws are not being implemented, not because the laws themselves are inadequate, the prosecutor general has said.

“Our institutions have problems. If we solve those problems and co-operate with each other to combat those problems, we will see results,” said Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhusin, according to CNM.

Muhuthaz said that the country will only be able to take strong action against gangs and their financiers when existing laws are implemented. After that, he said, “we can talk about creating new laws”.

His comments follow Home Minister Umar Naseer’s announcement that the government is preparing changes to several laws to increase police powers and remove “loopholes”.

At a ceremony to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Maldives Police Service this week, Naseer said existing laws were unsuited to the Maldives, making it harder to maintain public order, and needed to be revised to reflect the country’s “unique circumstances”.

A series of attacks has included the killing of a 29-year-old on Saturday night, the murders of two expatriate workers and the abduction of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan late last year. He has still not been found.

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Designs for six-lane airport bridge underway

Designs for a six-lane bridge connecting the capital and the airport are expected to be completed by the end of June this year, the government has announced.

Construction of the Malé–Hulhulé Bridge, first slated to begin in 2014, will now start by the end of this year, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb said today.

China has previously said it would ‘favorably consider financing’ the bridge if the design proves feasible, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the government would call the bridge “the China-Maldives friendship bridge”.

Adeeb said the total cost of the project will only be known after the design is completed. China and Maldives will then consider options for financing and open a bidding process.

According to the government, a team of 60 people is working on the design. The six mile bridge is to connect the eastern edge of Malé to the western corner of Hulhule, where the airport is located. Land may have to be reclaimed in Hulhulé for the bridge, Adeeb said.

The bridge, a key campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen, will also connect Malé to its suburb Hulhumalé, an artificial island located behind Hulhulé and connected by a short causeway.

In March, 227 hectares of land were reclaimed in Hulhumalé for a planned ‘Youth City.’

In February 2014, the economic development ministry announced 19 parties had expressed interest in an initial tender for the bridge, but the tender was cancelled after China expressed interest in the project following a visit by President Yameen in August last year.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party had also planned a series of bridges in Male’ atoll when it was in power.

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